


i'll cover you

by glitter_ghostie



Series: finnpoe week 2017 [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, M/M, even superheros need some tlc especially when it comes from cute science teachers, kyle ron is a drama queen, stormpilot week 2017, stormpilotweek2017, superhero au, talking about your feelings to the guy youve only met once
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-23 07:31:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11397927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitter_ghostie/pseuds/glitter_ghostie
Summary: “You’re bleeding.”“Only a little bit.”Sometimes a superhero needs looking after, too (especially when they've saved your life).





	i'll cover you

**Author's Note:**

> this is pretty late, i know, but there were some things i was worried about getting across wrong in regards to finn (and i was lucky enough to have @finnsajedi (go follow her on tumblr) to check things over for me, thank you legend). 
> 
> if you want to know exactly how seriously this fic should be taken, i wrote it to toxic by britney spears
> 
> content warnings: mentions of bombs, attacks on schools, injuries, and fires

Now, Finn knew the First Order was never the pinnacle of good morals, but attacking a school was a low blow.

He’d got the alert from Threepio, who looked more tightly sprung than usual, which was always a bad omen in Finn’s mind.

“A high school,” he had said, fidgeting with the golden watch on his wrist, and he hurried after Finn as he rushed to find his suit. “We’re not sure yet of their motives, but I suspect it’s the usual.”

“Distracting everyone while they then go after what they really want,” Finn had supplied, earning an affirming noise from Threepio as he pulled out the tight spandex suit. “I’ll go to the school first, see if I can help out over there, meanwhile you and the others can keep an eye out for whatever the Order does next and let me know if anything develops.”

Wrestling on the tight jumpsuit had been a struggle the first few times, but now Finn had it down to an art, rolling it up his legs and wriggling the sleeves over his arms. The mask was the last thing he put on – he’d never much liked having to wear one, but as Master Skywalker pointed out: it was either that or have his identity revealed to the Order. At least it didn’t feel like the ‘trooper helmet he’d worn before.

Finn glanced at himself in the mirror, and saw the Phoenix staring back, and then he was on the move again, Threepio in tow.

“You know,” Finn said, “I feel the temptation to make a ‘fighting fire with fire’ joke right now.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Threepio said, and Finn forced a small, weak laugh that sounded more like a shuddering breath than anything else. It had been a while since he’d been the Phoenix, having recently recovered from a back wound after his last fight with Kylo Ren, and he was nervous. Last time had pushed his luck – he was _certain_ Kylo Ren had almost pulled his mask off.

“There’s a very slim chance of Ren being there, Finn,” Threepio said, in a surprisingly gentle tone – the polar opposite of his usual formal, clipping voice. Finn nodded, hoping he was right.

The two of them reached the hidden entrance to the Skywalker-Organa base, and Finn looked out over the city from above. Threepio took a few steps back before opening the base doors, and Finn looked to the digital maps on the wall. It had the school and the base marked with small red dots, with the school being to the west of them.

“Good luck, Finn,” Threepio said, and Finn gave a final nod before leaping off of the ledge. 

The mountain the base was built into dropped away from him as he flew into the open air. It had been over a month since he’d flown, and under different circumstances he would’ve cheered with joy, but the apprehension and nerves still knotted his stomach tight. He flew above the rocky mountain, sheltered behind the protection of two much larger ones, and around the side to face the city before him. He turned to the west, and saw the plume of dark smoke rising into the air.

Others would surely be coming too, but they’d be travelling in other ways – he was the only one who could fly and was (mostly) uninjured – so he’d be the first to the scene. He couldn’t do anything about where the Order would strike next until it happened, and then he could only pray he’d get there fast enough to catch them before they vanished.

Again.

He reached the town, flying just above the tall flats and tower buildings. He heard the shouts of people below and the steadily growing sound of fire raging; a few blocks behind him, fire engines were closing in on the scene. 

He turned a sharp corner and stopped. The fire didn’t seem to have spread too far yet, and Finn assessed the scene: the fire was on the left side, the epicentre being a large hole blown from the outside by explosives hidden in a truck, parked next to the building in the parking lot. He flew around to the site of the fire, not fearing the fire and smoke as he drew close – he could see inside a classroom, and spotted a crowd of sooty faces peering out from behind clothes pressed to their noses and mouths. There was only one body he could see – a man partially trapped under a fallen desk, but he seemed to be conscious, for now.

Finn held his hands out, forcing his mind to clear. He could hear Master Skywalker’s soothing voice, as if the man was directly behind him, saying “breathe, centre yourself.”

Nothing happened.

“Shit,” Finn muttered, opening his eyes again.

_“Breathe – what’s distracting you?”_

“Ren.”

Finn’s face screwed up as he tried to focus, he imagined Ren as nothing more than a tiny ball of smoke, and Finn breathed him out before trying again.

“Hello, Phoenix.”

Finn nearly dropped out of the air in shock. He spun, and there was Kylo Ren, the exact last person he wanted to see right now, on the ground beneath him.

“Hello, Ron, ready for another ass kicking?”

“It’s Ren.”

“Sorry, Rent.”

“Lying isn’t your strong point, Phoenix,” Ren said. “I know you’re scared of me.”

“Scared? Of you?” Finn forced a laugh, though he doubted Ren believed it.

Ren, surprisingly, said nothing for a long moment. Finn felt his weak smile drop as he waited for something to happen. He was about to just try punching him when Ren spoke again.

“Phoenix, you have a choice. You can come after me, or you can save those children.”

Finn blinked, and his stomach heaved a little. He could go for Ren, possibly beat him and take out one of the Order’s most notorious members and destroy the people responsible for taking everything from him. Or he could stay.

“There’s got to be a catch.”

“Good deduction, Phoenix. It would be a shame if something were to cause the building to suddenly give way.” As if on cue, the building gave an ominous rumble. “You can have one or the other, Phoenix. You have two minutes to decide.”

Kylo Ren left, seeming to collapse in on himself until he vanished and there was nothing but solid ground again. Finn groaned – Ren was such a dramatic _asshole._

The building gave another rumble, and he heard terrified shouts from inside. He already knew what he was going to choose, no matter how much it pissed him off to let Ren go.

He raised his hands again, and – goddamn it, he couldn’t focus now. He was too stressed by the time limit and about letting Kylo Ren go, he simply wouldn’t have time to stop the fire and get the kids outside.

“I’m coming in,” Finn shouted, and he pressed a finger to the earpiece fitted into his mask. “Desert, where are you?”

“I’m nearly there,” Rey’s voice crackled in his ear.

“You need to hurry, Ren’s gonna make the building collapse any second now and I need help getting these kids out.”

“That asshole.”

“Tell me about it,” Finn said, and he reached for the first student inside. He considered it for a second, and then lifted them over his shoulder, his back twinged painfully, and he knew he was pushing himself as he flew the kid out and set them down. 

Why couldn’t super strength have been one of his powers?

He just managed to place them down without dropping them, and then raced back inside to pick up another teen.

“I’m here,” Rey’s voice sounded in his ear. “Where are you?”

“Look for the giant hole in the side of the building.”

“Got it, see you in a second.”

True to her word, he hadn’t even placed the third teenager down before Rey was outside the building, looking up at him.

“There’s eight left, as well as a guy trapped under a desk.”

“You deal with the desk, and I’ll get the kids out.”

Finn felt a moment of apprehension – he didn’t know if his back would stand for lifting the desk, hell, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to lift it on a good day – but he knew time was running out.

“I can try.”

Finn flew back inside, and turned to face the remaining students.

“Come close to the wall, you’ll be lifted out by Desert. I’ll focus on getting him free,” he gestured to the man whose leg was trapped.

He rushed to the man, who was still conscious, though only barely at this point.

“Hey,” Finn said, getting the man’s attention. “If I lift this, do you think you can move yourself out from under it?”

The man seemed to need a moment to respond, staring at Finn with wide, confused eyes.

“Yes – yeah, I can –” he began coughing.

“Oh, fuck it,” Finn muttered, and he then said to the man “Close your eyes” before removing his mask, pressing it over the man’s mouth and nose.

The man made a confused noise and tried to open his eyes again. Finn quickly placed his hand over them.

“Secret identities are for a reason, man, just let me get you out. I’m gonna lift this on the count of three, and you need to move straight away.”

The man nodded, and Finn removed his hand from his eyes. 

“One,” Finn counted, “two, three!” His back did not like heavy lifting, and he could feel himself sweat as the man began shuffling out from under the desk.

The man wiggled out of the way, grunting with pain as he did, and Finn dropped the desk with a crash. The man’s leg was clearly broken, and Finn _really_ didn’t want to try and lift him, for both of their sakes.

“Desert, you’re gonna have to lift this guy, too. I’ve got him free but his leg is broken and I don’t think I can lift him without making it worse.”

“Done and done, Phoenix, but it would be easier if I could see him.”

“I don’t think that’s an option, right now.” The building gave a hideous cracking noise, and Finn felt a shiver in the floor beneath him.

“Fine, fine, I’ll try,” Rey said, and Finn focused on the flames that were beginning to close in around them. He tried imagining breathing Ren out of his mind again, and shut his eyes – he was out of practice, and – 

_You can do this, Finn, you have to do this._

He breathed in, then out, and felt the tell-tale crackling under the skin of his palms. He heard the man beside him gasp as the heat retreated, but Finn ignored him, instead focusing on the energy he could feel around him. He reached within himself, drew out every remaining ounce of energy he had, and pushed it outwards. He melded it, opened his eyes to vision it enclosing the flames, shrinking them down until they smouldered away into the ground. Gradually, the flames shrunk back, and Finn let out another breath.

He did it.

Finn turned to see the man, and – yep, Rey had done it, too: he was nowhere to be seen. He flew himself out of the building to land beside Rey’s side, shielding his face until Rey handed him back his mask. He pulled it back on, and then Rey was rushing off to call a paramedic over to look at the man’s leg.

“Hey,” he said, voice barely above a whisper, and Finn turned to look at him. “Thank you.”

“It’s my job.”

“I know, but still.”

“They’re gonna come and check out your leg, in a second.” Finn said, feeling his face heat up as the man stared up at him.

“Everyone else was able to escape,” the man said, frowning. “I could see all of them running, but we were trapped.”

“That was on purpose, but I think you might’ve guessed that already.”

The man _‘hmm’_ d, and then the paramedics arrived with a stretcher.

“You should get everyone away,” Finn said. “The building will collapse soon.”

The paramedics nodded, quickly transferring the man onto the stretcher and rushing him away. Finn found himself following them, speed walking alongside the man.

“What’s your name?” Finn asked, and the man pulled his ID card out of his lanyard, coughing a bit to prove he couldn’t speak anymore.

“Poe Dameron, Head of Science”, it read, and Finn couldn’t help but stare at the photo – Poe was smiling in it, his eyes crinkled and revealing a gap between his front two teeth.

“Well, Poe Dameron, I get the feeling we might meet again in the future,” Finn said, and then Poe was gone, loaded away into the ambulance.

He stood watching the ambulance pull away, still holding the ID card

Superhero fic

\---

It took almost a week for Poe to be discharged from the hospital, and Finn had been fully intending to send him a bouquet and his ID card when he ran into trouble.

Trouble being a couple of First Order cronies.

He was fine, mostly, aside from one cut on his arm, and he was pacing in an alleyway when none other than Poe Dameron walked past.

Just his luck, really.

Poe had been walking down the street, and had happened to spot Finn before doing a double take.

“Phoenix?”

“Hey, again,” Finn said, and he would’ve waved if he wasn’t focused on clutching his arm.

“What happened to you?”

“It’s nothing serious-“

“You’re bleeding.”

“Only a little bit.”

Poe took a step forward on his crutches, reaching out for Finn.

“Let me repay you for before, I’ve got a first aid kit.”

“You don’t have to – “

“I want to, though,” Poe looked so earnest that Finn’s stomach did a backflip. “You can keep the mask on, if you want.”

“I don’t know…”

“Please?” Poe took another step forward, and Finn’s resolve crumbled.

“Ok.”

Poe broke out into a grin, and it was even nicer than in the ID photo. If Finn wasn’t wearing his mask, Poe would’ve seen the goofy grin that split across his face.

“C’mon, we’ll take the fire escape.”

\---

Poe’s flat was somewhat cramped, but cosy. The walls were covered in photos of friends and family, and every surface was colourful and inviting. Poe sat him down at his kitchen table, and fished out his first aid kit.

“I, uh, was gonna give you some flowers – because of your leg, yknow – but they kinda got ruined.”

Poe looked at him, a small tender smile spreading across his face. “That’s sweet of you, but you don’t need to.”

“I want to, though,” Finn parroted Poe’s earlier words back at him, and Poe laughed, shaking his head. “I have your ID, by the way, sorry for not getting it back to you sooner.”

“That’s ok – the school’s given me some leave time.”

Finn nodded, and then Poe was gently moving Finn’s hand away from his arm. Finn bit back a noise of pain, his arm stinging.

“Jeez, man, what did they cut you with?”

“A knife.”

Poe shook his head, saying “ask a stupid question, I guess,” before pressing Finn’s hand back onto it and pointing at the kitchen sink. “Run it under the water to clean it. I really think you should see a doctor about this.”

“I have people who can handle it,” Finn said, and Poe just nodded.

“Am I allowed to know anything about you?”

Finn sat at the sink, let Poe run water on his cut, and thought.

“We’re advised not to – the Order could use it against us – against _you_ – y’know?”

“Ah yes,” Poe smiled, “the Bad Guys.”

“The baddest.”

“But you’re not forbidden?” 

Finn shrugged. “Most just hang out with other people like us, because we know the risk and have a better shot of defending ourselves.”

“Safety’s never guaranteed. The school, for example.”

Finn sighed – he wanted to tell Poe everything, open up again after a lifetime of limited contact with the outside world.

“I was taken from my family when I was a child, by the First Order,” Finn couldn’t look at Poe as he said it. “I defected a few years back. Turns out they’d been grooming me to join Kylo Ren and his posse – they have a group of people like me, a bit like the Resistance – but until they decided the time was right, I was on suppressants, so I was like every other trooper.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah,” Finn sighed, “so then when I got out, you’ve got a guy running around and accidentally starting fires. The Resistance found me and now, here we are.” Finn has to stop to even his breathing, and says something he’s never admitted out loud: “I never thought I could do it – be a superhero, I mean. For so long I thought the evilness I’d grown up with was ingrained in me, that no matter how far I ran, how hard I fought against it, I would never be capable of the goodness that the people around me had.”

“Well, buddy,” Poe quietly said, “I happened to be saved by you from a burning building, I’d hardly consider that the actions of a bad person. You radiate goodness, and you had the bravery and the consciousness to defect from the First Order – you prove with everything you do that you’re kind, and so, so good. I was raised to trust my gut, and my gut’s telling me to throw my lot in with _you_.”

Well.

Finn couldn’t think of anything to say to that, but he knew Poe heard his shuddering breaths, as he placed a hand on Finn’s shoulder for a moment, a warm touch, and then straightened back up, his mood already lighter.

“You and I have something in common, y’know.”

“What?”

“Setting things on fire.”

Finn laughed – still a little watery, but genuine – and Poe smiled at him. Then Poe seemed to startle, and he let go of Finn’s arm to stand up, asking “I should’ve asked earlier, but do you want something to drink? I bet crime fighting works up a sweat.”

“Tea, if you’ve got any.”

“That, I do,” Poe said, and he began hobbling around the kitchen on his crutches, grabbing a mug and checking how much water was in the kettle. He chattered as he worked, saying, “I love teaching, even if the kids drive me crazy half the time, but before I did that I was a pilot.”

“Another thing we have in common – flying,” Finn said, and Poe nodded, smiling still.

“I adored flying, I thought I would do it for my whole life – or at least until my eyes were too bad and health and safety got on my ass – but then –” Poe stopped, staring down at the kettle as it boiled. “I was in a crash – lost a close friend, and decided it was time to try something new.” He then looked around his kitchen, and his smile changed into something Finn couldn’t quite place, happy and nostalgic, but also slightly sad, “and now I’m here.”

Finn couldn’t think of much to say, so instead he sat and listened to the sound of running water.

“Could I at least know your name?” Poe asked after a long few minutes of silence. Finn looked at him, his mask suddenly feeling too tight. Poe was gazing back at him, and his face was so open, so trusting and clear of mystery as he watched Finn. He left the kettle to check on Finn’s arm, gently peeling back the suit to clean it better. His fingers were calloused and rough, but his touch was feather light, and Finn bit his lip.

“Finn.”

“Finn?” Poe smiles at him then – big and toothy – and it’s so beautiful Finn’s heart feels it could melt. “That’s a nice name.”

“Thank you, I chose it after I left the Order.”

“You have good taste.” A moment’s pause, and then “The kettle’s boiled, let me just make your tea and I’ll get back to you.” He crosses back over to the counter, filling the mug and asking “how do you like it?”

“Lots of milk, lots of sugar.”

“Coming right up, Finn” Finn hears the tinkling of a spoon against the mug, and then Poe’s sliding the mug across to him – it’s bright orange, Finn notices, and has little bees painted on it.

Finn chuckles and says “the mug’s cute,” and Poe walks back over to shut off the water, gently moving the tight material of Finn’s suit again to inspect the cut.

“I know you have people who can take care of it, but I still want to wrap it up for you at least.”

“Good idea, I don’t really want to bleed on your floors.”

Poe moved away, coming back a second later with the green first aid box. He pulled out an antiseptic, dabbing it around the cut and murmuring “I know,” when Finn winced in pain. Poe then unrolled some gauze, and with an incredible tenderness he wrapped it around Finn’s arm. He made sure not to tie it too loose or too tight, and Finn’s skin felt like it did when he controlled fire, like a crackling just under the surface, almost ticklish.

His breath hitched a little.

“Too tight?” Poe’s hands paused.

“No,” Finn breathed, and Poe was looking at him again, still holding Finn’s arm in his hands.

When Poe leant in, hand on Finn’s jaw, thumb rubbing his covered cheek, and gently kissed the part of his mask that covered his mouth, Finn decided – 

He took his mask off.

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact: i was certain there was already a fictional superhero called the phoenix (there is) but in my research i found out about a real life superhero called phoenix jones, who dressed up in a superhero costume to fight crime, and if that's not metal as hell idk what is


End file.
